I'll Sit Back and Wait Till You Say You're Sorry
by lovergirl85
Summary: Part 7. Jason and Bruce have issues they need to work out, but neither of them are willing to take the first step. The consequences are less than desirable.


If Bruce didn't know any better, he'd say Alfred was pure evil sometimes. Because he was. Alfred always held Bruce's, and his wards', best interests at heart and that sometimes involved making Bruce do things he really didn't want to do. Actually, that was involved all the time, but Bruce would not be giving up his pride anytime in the near future, so he would clamp down on that thought, shove it to the darkest recesses of his mind and never look at it again.

Bruce was looking helplessly at his second Robin, ward, protégé, _son_, as the boy glared petulantly out the window, very pointedly ignoring Bruce. Alfred had not so subtly disappeared, saying he needed to care of some shopping (and that was one of the biggest lies Bruce had _ever_ heard because Alfred only "shopped" when there was a problem that needed to be dealt with and Bruce was using him as an excuse to not deal with it) and that Jason would be needing medicine while he was out. Bruce was the only one fit enough to deliver it.

"Jason…" Bruce trailed off, uncertain with how to continue. He wrestled for something to say in his mind, but came up blank. Saying "I love you" out of the blue would be awkward and inappropriate for the current situation and would send Jason the opposite way as fast as humanly and inhumanly possible. Bruce imagined that he could rival Clark if he so desired. "Will you forgive me" also seemed wrong, especially since Bruce wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to be asking for forgiveness for. It also wasn't in his nature to admit that he was wrong. He and Jason were so alike in those ways and Jason knew it. Jason also wouldn't accept anything less than what was absolutely sincere and if he thought Bruce wasn't meaning it, then it could have the same damaging effect than if Bruce were to stick him back in Arkham.

"Here's your medicine," he finally said, setting the glass of water and small paper cup containing the pills on the bedside table and hastily left the room, not seeing Jason's eyes follow him with something like regret.

000

Bruce skulked around the manor for the next few days, determinedly avoiding Alfred, who kept shooting him his patented Looks of Doom, and avoided Jason's room like the plague. He spent more time with Damian, who was trying hard not to show how pleased he was with the extra attention he was getting from Bruce.

Dick tried talking to him about it, but Bruce made it next to impossible to carry on a conversation about it. Tim kept quiet about it, but Bruce knew he was burning up with questions, so to avoid his gaze that reminded him too much of himself he tried to avoid Tim's room as well. The only person didn't seem to grate on his nerves at the moment was Stephanie, which was surprising, because when she was his Robin, she was nothing _but_ an annoyance, always trying to prove herself and live up to her predecessors.

But when he went into her room, she only look at him and accepted her medicine without comment. He didn't see any questions in her eyes, because she knew the situation with Jason, so painfully similar to hers. One of the differences, though, when she died, there was no shrine for her in the Batcave. There wasn't any accusations in her eyes, only resignation. He pretended not to know what why they were so resigned, but he did know.

But apparently he could take the guilt of her room better than Jason's.

000

Jason, however, couldn't wait for Bruce to get over what issues he was having before getting fed up. Which led to the overwhelming panic Bruce felt when Alfred finally told him flat-out that Bruce would be the one taking care of Jason from now on and Bruce had taken Jason his medicine, only to open the door to find the window wide open, leaving the room exposed to the elements, and the bed empty. A quick check revealed his boys wouldn't know anything: they were all passed out. The only alert one was Stephanie, who was flipping through a magazine. She lowered it as he came in, regarding him with a blank face, but he knew that wouldn't last long.

He loomed over her and she would be the first to admit that it was a bit disconcerting, but then she sent a little smile that said _I know _exactly _why you're here and I hope you're ready to work for it._ She never could keep a straight face for very long.

"Something the matter, Bruce?" She inquired brightly… too brightly. Bruce's face settled back into a scowl. "Sorry, you never bothered to teach me how to read your mind so you might have to actually talk to me." She leaned over to pick up a magazine. Bruce shortly moved it out of her reach. Stephanie looked up at him again and settled back, looking relaxed to the untrained eye, but Bruce could tell she was tense.

"Where is he, Stephanie?" He growled. Stephanie pasted on an innocent expression.

"Who?" Bruce growled again and brought his face closer to hers. Stephanie set her jaw and stared back at him stubbornly.

"Where. Is. Jason." Stephanie shrugged.

"Dunno. Said he was going out." She cocked her head to the side. "Did you need him for something?" Bruce pulled back and headed for the room. He wouldn't get anything from Stephanie when she was like this. Alfred was right. She felt more loyalty to Jason than she did him.

"He said something about going home." Stephanie's voice stopped him. He glanced over his shoulder. Her arms were crossed and she was staring determinedly at the wall in front of her. Her lips were tugged in an unhappy frown and Bruce couldn't decide if it was because she'd told him that and or something else.

"Did he say anything else?" Bruce asked. Stephanie's head turned so she was looking out the window at the rain.

"No." With that, she lay down completely and pulled the covers over her head. Bruce watched the still form for a few more moments before turning and heading for the cave. He needed to check the traffic cameras on any and all possible routes to Crime Alley.

He found what he was looking for an hour later. Too long, in his opinion, but for now he'd take what he could get. He couldn't help the small thought he could've found Jason sooner if he hadn't wasted that ten minutes in Stephanie's room trying to get answers he knew she most likely wouldn't give willingly. Because she didn't trust him. She didn't trust him to be there for her. She didn't trust him to go after her. She didn't trust him to not take the Batgirl away.

And as he suited up to go after his second son, he couldn't help but feel that small thought was the whole reason she wouldn't or couldn't or both trust him.

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"Jason's missing?" Dick asked in disbelief when Bruce stopped by his eldest's room to let him know what was going on.

"Yes," Bruce answered shortly. "I'm going to look for him."

"As Batman." It was a statement, not a question. Bruce paused to look at him and then nodded shortly. Dick only nodded back and made a move to stand.

"What do you think you're doing?" And it's not Bruce speaking, it's Batman and it's enough to make Dick freeze, but not lay back down.

"Going to lo-"

"No. I'll get Oracle to send her birds out if I need help, but none of you are in any condition to move."

"But-"

"Lay down. I'll call the minute I have something." Dick scowled, but complied, settling back into the bed. Satisfied, Bruce headed back down to the cave. He passed Alfred on the way down, who simply squeezed his shoulder before going upstairs to make sure that the Robins still in the manor stayed that way. Bruce barely waited until he had shut the door and the car was turned on before he hit the gas and peeled out of the cave.

It wasn't until Bruce was out of the cave and speeding towards the city that he received the call from Commissioner Gordon.

"Thomas Elliot – Hush – just escaped from Arkham. We're still looking as to _how_ he escaped, but he's loose in the city and it's well known that he has a grudge against you…and Bruce Wayne." Batman's stomach dropped at the news – Jason was out there, sick and in no condition to defend himself should Hush manage to run across him. And he would, too, with their sort of luck.

"Understood. Keep me updated." Another issue added to the mess – Forbes was also looking for any of Batman's associates and Bruce knew that the man had had several seemingly discreet inquires to both Black Mask and Penguin. Bruce's jaw tightened with worry as he made it to Crime Alley – Jason's stomping grounds of choice.

He contacted Oracle, requesting (ordering) that she hack into the security cameras that still worked but nobody bothered to monitor, telling her to look for any sign of Jason. Barbara was well aware of the fact that Hush had escaped – Jim always called her when something had happened to tell her to keep an eye out for herself.

Oracle was silent as she worked, understanding Bruce wouldn't be in the mood for updates that didn't yield results.

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Jason didn't move as the door opened – too exhausted and nauseous to even see who it was that had made it through his defenses.

"Well – I didn't expect to see you here, Hood. Rumor had it that you'd gotten cozier with Batman. He kick you out again?" Jason curled in tighter to himself as the voice penetrated his pounding headache. Hush. Jason kept his eyes shut, because it was one thing to hear Hush saying these things – it would be another thing entirely to see _Bruce_ saying them. Because Jason never had managed to let go of the need for Bruce's approval.

He heard Hush walking around him, but he had collapsed on the bed without bothering to place any weapons within grabbing range (maybe he shouldn't have left the mansion after all) and was in no condition to even stand, let alone defend himself. Actually, Jason was amazed he'd even made it to the safe house, now that he bothered to give it some thought.

"Tell me, Jason, do you think Bruce would actually care if you died again? I mean, nothing you've done since coming back has really been all that great." Jason really didn't want to listen to this – but Hush was a master at knowing which buttons to push and Jason was too sick to manage to push back. Jason tried to at least get the wall at his back, but Hush was having none of that, using his foot to pin Jason to the mattress. "So, I'm going to take care of that for him – we both know he wishes you had stayed dead. After all, it's so hard to mourn a son and a "good soldier" if you're running around the city killing people."

There was an inhuman roar of rage before the pressure on his shoulder vanished and the sound of fighting filled the tiny apartment. Jason finally made it to the wall and forced himself into a sitting position, cautiously cracking open one eye.

Batman was engaged in the middle of a brawl (and that's what it was, because apparently Bruce was too pissed to calculate his next move and was simply going with trying to pound the man's face in) with Hush, who had forgone the bandages but had somehow gotten his hands on one of the brown trenchcoats that he tended to favor. Hush was on the defensive and Jason had only seen Batman so incredibly angry a few times. And never on his behalf before.

Hush was slammed into the wall dangerously close to the mattress where Jason was and Jason decided that maybe now would be a good time to move. He dragged himself slowly towards the door that led to the next room. It was painfully slow and Jason felt like he was going to collapse at any second. He vision was blurry and black spots were dancing in it, but he forced himself to keep moving. Bruce couldn't worry about trying to keep Hush away from Jason.

He was always aware of a black blur out of the corner of his eye, but for the life of him couldn't figure out what it was. He thought at first it might be Bruce, but it was _always there_ and Bruce couldn't be _always there_ because he was fighting Hush.

Bruce lunged as Hush finally decided that he had had enough of the fight and darted out of the apartment and into the hallway. Bruce didn't bother to give chase – Hush would eventually resurface – and made his way back into the apartment, scanning the rooms as he looked for his second oldest.

He found him curled up into a ball in the corner of one of the back rooms, shivering violently. Bruce knelt and removed one of his gloves, checking his temperature and then moving to ascertain Jason's heart rate. Both were dangerously high.

"Oracle, send me the Batmobile," Batman ordered. He waited impatiently, soothingly running a hand through Jason's hair in an attempt to calm the other down. Jason was nearly completely lost in a fever dream by this point and Bruce was worried that if he didn't get Jason somewhere with adequate care soon, his second oldest might very well not recover.

When it finally, _finally_ appeared, Bruce gently carried Jason out and set him in the passenger seat. Jason frowned and mumbled and Bruce allowed his hand to caress Jason's cheek gently. The frown receded a bit and Bruce hurried to the driver's side of the vehicle, not willing to waste any more time.

He needed to get his son home.

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The cave was silent as Bruce worked. Alfred was there, assisting quietly and faithfully, as always. Bruce honestly didn't know where he would be without Alfred.

Jason was shivering even though he'd been layered with blankets and hot water bottles. Alfred has spent the last half-hour trying to coax some warm broth into Jason's mouth, having minimal success. Bruce has finally suggested pinching Jason's nose shut. He'd heard about the technique when he overheard one of his employees giving advice to another woman who was raising her first child and having trouble feeding it. Apparently, it had worked because the next day the young mother had shown up to work saying that her child had swallowed the food and in retaliation had thrown up all over her.

His suggestion had led to an even firmer suggestion that maybe he "should check on the others, Master Bruce."

Bruce left the cave and headed upstairs to Dick's room. He'd completely forgotten to let his oldest know that Jason was back. Dick would probably kill him for forgetting, but he'd understand once Bruce explained.

Stephanie's door was shut firmly against the rest of the hall, so Bruce bypassed it and instead headed into Dick's. The young man was sleeping fitfully, the blankets hanging half-off the bed. Bruce sighed and readjusted the blankets, tucking them around him…not too tightly. Dick hated being confined, even while sleeping. Securing the blankets around him would only make his sleep worse.

Bruce checked the latches on the window sill and headed across the hall to Damian's room. He wasn't surprised to find the boy sitting up in bed, staring intently out the window. Bruce drifted over to the window, making sure he didn't block Damian's view and stared out, searching. He saw nothing, so he allowed his mind to wander, to try and figure out what Damian was seeing.

"You found him." It wasn't a question. Bruce nodded.

"I did," he confirmed.

"But something's wrong." Bruce smiled a bit, and did the same as he did with Dick. He checked the latches and turned to Damian.

"Hush escaped from Arkham," he answered. "He found Jason first." Damian's whole body went tense and he turned his attention from the window to Bruce, silently demanding to know more. "I found them in time. Hush fled. Jason's fever climbed. He's in the cave now."

"Why not the hospital?" Damian asked. Bruce smiled slightly, albeit sadly.

"Right now, I doubt even my influence could keep him from being arrested while in the hospital," Bruce answered. "Alfred is taking care of him now. If he doesn't get better, I'll call Leslie." Damian nodded. "Lay down, Damian. He'll be fine." He frowned, but obeyed. Bruce tucked him in as well and headed for the door.

"Father?" Bruce stopped and turned to look at his youngest. "Could you tell Stephanie to open her door?" Bruce frowned.

"Any particular reason why?"

"Because Grayson and Drake are both passed out right now and I'm sure you'd rather not have to go chase down another wayward Robin, regardless of your personal feelings towards her right now."

So Damian had noticed that Bruce wasn't pleased with Stephanie. Bruce wasn't sure what Damian and Stephanie's relationship was, but it was obvious that they cared for each other. He'd watched Stephanie teach Damian how to play (how could he have missed his own son didn't know how to play?) and try to coach him in the right direction and Damian looked after her.

"I'll tell her you asked her to," Bruce nodded, heading out to the hall and ignoring Damian's mutter of, "I didn't _ask_ her to, I _told_ her to."

He stopped briefly in Tim's room, noting that Damian was right. Tim was sleeping, not as fitfully as Dick, but not all that deep, either. Bruce silently crossed to the window, repeating the motion that he had in the other two rooms and then turned to Tim.

There was no need to secure the blankets here. Tim preferred to be completely bundled up while sleeping, though he didn't always. It wasn't always safe to have your movements restricted. To Bruce, it spoke volumes of trust that Tim was willing to be so bundled while sleeping while he stayed in the mansion. All the same, Bruce grabbed a blanket that had fallen to the floor and laid it over Tim's prone form before leaving the room and crossing the hall to Stephanie's and giving a token knock. He entered to find Stephanie on her side, her back to the door.

"Damian would like you to keep your door open," he commented, keeping his voice casual so she wouldn't take it as an order. He had a feeling she'd react badly to one at this point in time. He was half-hoping for a reason to lash out, but that was a petty, childish urge.

"So leave the door open when you leave," Stephanie said quietly. Bruce checked her window latches. Crystal Brown would be back in town soon and he didn't want to explain to her why her daughter had a 100.1 fever and he'd allowed her to still run around the city, though technically Bruce wasn't her mentor anymore. Not that the headstrong woman cared. She'd blamed Bruce for pretty much everything that had happened to Stephanie since she became Robin. And he wouldn't be lying if he said he wasn't sure what Hush's motives were.

"Jason is back," Bruce told her.

"I surmised as much," she replied. "You wouldn't be here otherwise." She was right, Bruce thought. He would still be out on the streets.

"He's down in the cave."

"He wouldn't be anyplace else. Not with his fever."

"Why'd you let him go?" Stephanie rolled over so she was facing him.

"Why would I make him stay?" She asked quietly. "I did the same thing for him that he would've done for me." Bruce considered her quietly. She met his gaze steadily.

"You and Jason aren't comfortable here?"

"Physically, yes, we are." She didn't tell him that before he'd come back from Brazil, she and Jason had relaxed almost completely, had almost felt like they belonged in the manor and that boundaries were broken that hadn't been before. Stephanie and Dick had the same sense of humor. Damian and Jason could spend hours talking about a single gun, debating its merits and shortcomings and comparing it to others. Tim had taken up semi-permanent residence in Stephanie's room, where, now that they were on the same page concerning identities, they could talk about anything and nothing at the same time. Damian was more receptive to Dick's parenting advances. At one point, they'd even found him curled up with Dick after a nightmare. Jason and Dick's relationship had turned more towards the somewhat friendly antagonistic sort.

But when he'd come back, all of that had changed. It was like none of them knew how he would react to the new dynamics and were unwilling to test it. He'd come back and it was like it was before. Tim and Stephanie weren't speaking, Jason and Damian were yelling at each other, Dick was trying to be the peacemaker and nobody wanted to hear it.

Something in her face must've registered, though, because Bruce only nodded and didn't press. Trying to change the subject slightly, Stephanie said, "Besides, Jason outweighs me by at least fifty pounds. Even when he's delirious, I doubt there's much I could've done to stop him." Bruce was already standing to leave and he had his back to her as he said, "Maybe you should train more, then, if you don't think you could take him," before he walked out, completely missing the flush on her cheeks and the way she crossed her arms over her chest and curled in on herself.

He left the door open.

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All right, so I know it's been forever and I'm sorry for taking so long! I think at this point the reboot is being completely blown out of the water until I feel otherwise.

Hopefully, the next installment won't take so long, but if you have anything you'd like to see (and I'll have to go back and make sure I'm not missing anything someone may have already suggested) leave it in a review or message me!

Thank you to my wonderful sister for helping me with this. I have a harder time with the more serious side of stories so she's good with that. I don't own the lyrics used for the title. Those belong to Barenaked Ladies and their song One Week.

Again, I am so sorry for taking forever with this!


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